* Gold slips after gaining for two straight sessions

* Iran reviewing U.S. proposal to end the Gulf war

* Brent oil prices climb back above $100 a barrel

* Markets see no chances of Fed rate cut this year

(Adds quote and updates prices for Asia closing session)

By Noel John

March 26 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday,

weighed down by increased expectations of U.S. Federal Reserve

rate hikes this year as elevated oil prices stoked inflation

worries, with investors awaiting clarity on Middle East

de-escalation efforts.

Spot gold fell 1.2% to $4,451.47 per ounce by 0811

GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery lost 2.3% to

$4,448.

"You're seeing an acceleration of the idea that... this war

will mean inflation and inflation will mean a response from

central banks, which will mean higher interest rates," said Ilya

Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Brent crude futures climbed back above $100 a barrel

on concerns that protracted fighting in the Middle East will

further disrupt energy flows.

Higher crude prices tend to fuel inflation, and while rising

inflation typically boosts gold's appeal as a hedge, high

interest rates weigh on demand for the non-yielding asset.

Markets see a 37% chance of a U.S. rate hike by December

this year with almost no chance of a cut now, according to CME

Group's FedWatch Tool. Before the conflict, markets were

expecting at least two rate cuts.

U.S. President ​Donald Trump said Iran was desperate to make

a deal to end nearly four weeks of fighting, contradicting the

Iranian foreign minister who said his country was reviewing a

U.S. proposal but had ​no intention of holding talks to wind

down the conflict.

"In the next 24 to 48 hours, (gold prices) will just be

about reacting to headlines about negotiations," said Kyle

Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

"The really big moves will happen probably at the start of

next week when it becomes clearer whether the U.S. launches a

ground invasion in Iran over the weekend."

Trump has vowed to hit Iran harder if Tehran fails to accept

that the country has been "defeated militarily", White House

press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.

Spot silver fell 2.7% to $69.36 per ounce. Spot

platinum was down 2.3% at $1,874.90, while palladium

dropped 2.5% to $1,387.53.

(Reporting by Noel John, Pablo Sinha and Swati Verma in

Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Sumana Nandy and Subhranshu

Sahu)